The relation between authoritarian leadership and belief in fake news

Individual factors such as cognitive capacities matter when one is requested to spot fake news. We suggest, however, that social influence—specifically as exercised by an authoritarian leader—might matter more if one is expected to agree with the fake news. We developed a single-item prototype measure of leadership styles and recruited participants from four Western democratic countries (Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States, N = 501) who identified their immediate boss as an autonomous, paternalistic, or authoritarian leader. Then they were asked to evaluate the accuracy of several fake news articles and their expectations to agree with their boss when asked about these articles. People with authoritarian bosses were less accurate in spotting fake news (Cohen’s d = 0.32) compared to employees with autonomous bosses. The bigger effect, however, was that they would agree with their boss about the fake news article when it was shared by their authoritarian boss compared to employees with autonomous (Cohen’s d = 1.30) or paternalistic bosses (Cohen’s d = 0.70). We argue that in addition to effects on the perceived accuracy of information, social influence, conformity, and obedience are crucial and unacknowledged factors of how misinformation may be maintained and propagated by authoritarian leaders.


Main effect of leadership styles on accuracy ratings
Leadership style was related to different accuracy ratings of fake news (see SM Table  1 and SM Figure 1). Table 1. Coefficients from a linear regression model of the accuracy of fake news as a function of leadership style. The reference group is autonomous leaders. All regression coefficients are unstandardized.  Figure 1. Unstandardized ratings of the accuracy of fake news as a function of leadership style. Error bars represent standard errors.

Intraclass correlation coefficient and cultural similarities
Although we recruited participants from four different countries (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia), we are reporting the results of agreeing with fake news aggregating the data from all these countries because the pattern of results from each country was similar from one country to the other as demonstrated by the low intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), ICC<0.01. If the ICC was greater than 0.10, this would suggest that each country would be different from each other, and we would have had to control for the random effect of country in multilevel analyses.

Main effect of the style of leader on expectation to agree with fake news
Leadership style was related to different expectations to agree with misinformation (see SM Table 2). Table 2. Coefficients from a linear regression model of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of leadership style. The reference group is autonomous leaders. All regression coefficients are unstandardized. Main effect of the style of leader on expectation to agree with fake news controlling for accuracy ratings

SM
To demonstrate the robustness of the effect, leadership style was related to different expectations to agree with misinformation after controlling for accuracy ratings (see SM  Table 3 and SM Figure 2). Employees with authoritarian leaders agreed with fake news more than employees with autonomous leaders, b=1. 25,t=10.29,p<0.001,Cohen's d=1.22. Employees with paternalistic leaders agreed with fake news more than employees with autonomous leaders, b=0. 58,t=6.58,p<0.001,Cohen's d=0.56. Furthermore, people with authoritarian superiors agreed with misinformation more than employees with paternalistic leaders, b=0.68, SE=0.13 t=5.25, p<0.001, Cohen's d=0.66. Table 3. Coefficients from a linear regression model of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of leadership style controlling for accuracy ratings of fake news. The reference group is autonomous leaders. All regression coefficients are unstandardized.  Figure 2. Unstandardized ratings of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of leadership style controlling for accuracy ratings of fake news. Error bars represent standard errors.

Main effect of the style of leader on the expectation to agree with fake news controlling for accuracy ratings and other leadership characteristics
Moreover, to demonstrate the robustness of the effect, leadership style was related to different expectations to agree with misinformation after controlling for accuracy ratings of fake news, transformational leadership, and competence of the leader (see SM Table 4 and SM Figure 3). Employees with authoritarian leaders agreed with fake news more than employees with autonomous leaders, b=1.063, t=7.279, p<0.001, Cohen's d=1.038, and employees with paternalistic leaders agreed with fake news more than employees with autonomous leaders, b=0.484, t=5.021, p<0.001, Cohen's d=0.473. Finally, people with authoritarian superiors agreed with misinformation more than employees with paternalistic leaders, b=0.578, t=4.305, p<0.001, Cohen's d=0.565. Table 4. Coefficients from linear regression model of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of leadership style controlling for accuracy ratings of fake news, transformational leadership, and competence of the leader. Reference group is autonomous leaders. All regression coefficients are unstandardized.  Figure 3. Unstandardized ratings of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of leadership style controlling for accuracy ratings of fake news, transformational leadership, and competence of the leader. Error bars represent standard errors.

Main effect of the style of leader on expectation to agree with fake news controlling for demographics and political ideology
Moreover, to demonstrate the robustness of the effect, leadership style was related to different expectations to agree with misinformation after controlling for demographics (i.e., age, education of parents, subjective SES, and race), and political ideology (see SM Table 5 and SM Figure 4). Employees with authoritarian leaders agreed with fake news more than employees with autonomous leaders, b=1.301, t=10.343, p<0.001, Cohen's d=1.271, and employees with paternalistic leaders agreed with fake news more than employees with autonomous leaders, b=0.606, t=6.592, p<0.001, Cohen's d=0.592. Finally, people with authoritarian superiors agreed with misinformation more than employees with paternalistic leaders, b=0.694, t=5.249, p<0.001, Cohen's d=0.678. Table 5. Coefficients from a linear regression model of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of leadership style controlling for demographics (i.e., age, education of parents, subjective SES, and race), and political ideology. Reference groups are autonomous leaders, no parental education, and White people for leadership styles, parental education, and race, respectively. All regression coefficients are unstandardized.  Figure 4. Unstandardized ratings of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of leadership style and accuracy ratings controlling for age, education of parents, subjective SES, political ideology, and race. Error bars represent standard errors.

Interactions of leadership styles with other leadership characteristics
We did not control for other leadership characteristics in the models above because we found significant interactions with our leadership styles measure. With a moderation analysis, we examined whether people will be more expected to agree with the authoritarian leader if the supervisor is low on relationship-orientation, high on task-orientation leadership, and low on warmth. Finally, we examined the robustness of the moderating model, by controlling for relevant individual differences such as fake news accuracy ratings, sociodemographic variables, transformational leadership, and competence of the leader.

Interaction with relationship-oriented leadership on expectation to agree with fake news
The strength of the relation of leadership style on agreement with fake news varied with the relationship-orientation of the leader, =-0.14, t=-2.517, p=0.012 (see SM Table 6 and SM Figure 5). People with authoritarian leaders were more likely to agree with fake news the less relationship-oriented their boss was (simple slope: =-0.22, t=-2.49, p=0.01). The relation between relationship-oriented leadership style and agreement with fake news, however, was not reliable when people had paternalistic (simple slope: =-0.08, t=-1.48, p=0.14), or autonomous leaders (simple slope: =0.07, t=1.04, p=0.30). Table 6. Coefficients from the linear regression model of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of relationship-oriented leader interacting with leadership styles.

SM
Leadership styles were effect coded such that autonomous leaders = -1, paternalistic leaders = 0, and authoritarian leaders = 1. All other variables are standardized.  Figure 5. Predicted standardized ratings of expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of leadership style and relationship-orientation leadership (N=501), shaded areas represent 95% confidence intervals.

Interaction controlling for accuracy ratings
Moreover, to demonstrate the robustness of the effect, both the main effects of leadership styles and the interaction remained strongly significant after controlling for accuracy ratings of fake news (see SM Table 7). Table 7. Coefficients from a linear regression model of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of relationship-oriented leader interacting with leadership styles controlling for accuracy ratings of fake news. Leadership styles were effect coded such that autonomous leaders = -1, paternalistic leaders = 0, and authoritarian leaders = 1. All other variables are standardized.

Interaction controlling for accuracy and other leadership characteristics
Moreover, to demonstrate the robustness of the effect, both the main effects of leadership styles and the interaction remained strongly significant after controlling for accuracy ratings of fake news, transformational leadership, and competence of the leader (see SM Table 8). Table 8. Coefficients from a linear regression model of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of relationship-oriented leader interacting with leadership styles controlling for accuracy ratings of fake news. Leadership styles were effect coded such that autonomous leaders = -1, paternalistic leaders = 0, and authoritarian leaders = 1. All other variables are standardized.

Interaction controlling for demographics and political ideology
Moreover, to demonstrate the robustness of the effect, both the main effects of leadership styles and the interaction remained strongly significant after controlling for demographics (i.e., age, education of parents, subjective SES, and race/ethnicity) and political ideology (see SM Table 9). Table 9. Coefficients from linear regression model of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of relationship-oriented leader interacting with leadership styles controlling for demographics (i.e., age, education of parents, subjective SES, and race), and political ideology. Reference groups are no parental education, and White people for parental education, and race, respectively. Leadership styles were effect coded such that autonomous leaders = -1, paternalistic leaders = 0, and authoritarian leaders = 1. All other variables are standardized.

Interaction with warmth of leader on expectation to agree with fake news
The strength of the relation of leadership style on agreement with fake news varied with the warmth of the leader, =-0.18, t=-3.274, p=0.001 (see SM Table 10 and SM Figure  6). People with authoritarian leaders were more likely to agree with fake news the less warm their boss was (simple slope: =-0.39, t=-4.73, p<0.01), followed by paternalistic leaders (simple slope: =-0.21, t=-4.34, p<0.01). The relation between the warmth of leader and agreement with fake news, however, was not reliable when people had autonomous leaders (simple slope: =-0.03, t=-0.47, p=0.64). Table 10. Coefficients from linear regression model of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of leader's warmth interacting with leadership styles. Leadership styles were effect coded such that autonomous leaders = -1, paternalistic leaders = 0, and authoritarian leaders = 1. All other variables are standardized.  Figure 6. Predicted standardized ratings of expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of leadership style and warmth of the leadership, controlling for accuracy ratings of the fake news (N=501), shaded areas represent 95% confidence intervals.

SM
Moreover, to demonstrate the robustness of the effect, both the main effects of leadership styles and the interaction remained strongly significant after controlling for accuracy ratings of fake news (see SM Table 11). Table 11. Coefficients from linear regression model of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of leader's warmth interacting with leadership styles controlling for accuracy ratings of fake news. Leadership styles were effect coded such that autonomous leaders = -1, paternalistic leaders = 0, and authoritarian leaders = 1. All other variables are standardized.

Interaction controlling for accuracy ratings and other leadership characteristics
Moreover, to demonstrate the robustness of the effect, both the main effects of leadership styles and the interaction remained strongly significant after controlling for fake news accuracy ratings, perceived competence and transformational leadership (see SM Table  12). Table 12. Coefficients from linear regression model of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of leader's warmth interacting with leadership styles controlling for accuracy ratings of fake news. Leadership styles were effect coded such that autonomous leaders = -1, paternalistic leaders = 0, and authoritarian leaders = 1. All other variables are standardized. Moreover, to demonstrate the robustness of the effect, both the main effects of leadership styles and the interaction remained strongly significant after controlling for demographics and political ideology (see SM Table 13). Table 13. Coefficients from the linear regression model of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of leader's warmth interacting with leadership styles controlling for demographics (i.e., age, education of parents, subjective SES, and race), and political ideology. Reference groups are no parental education, and White people for parental education, and race, respectively. Leadership styles were effect coded such that autonomous leaders = -1, paternalistic leaders = 0, and authoritarian leaders = 1. All other variables are standardized.

Interaction with task-oriented leadership on expectation to agree with fake news
The strength of the relation of leadership style on agreement with fake news varied with task-orientation leadership, =0.12, t=2.362, p=0.019 (see SM Table 14 and SM Figure  7). People with authoritarian leaders were more likely to agree with fake news the more taskoriented their boss was (simple slope: =0.25, t=3.27, p<0.01), followed by paternalistic leader (simple slope: =0.13, t=3.06, p<0.01). The relation between task-oriented leadership and agreement with fake news, however, was not reliable when people had autonomous leaders (simple slope: =0.01, t=0.16, p=0.88). Table 14. Coefficients from linear regression model of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of task-oriented leader interacting with leadership styles. Leadership styles were effect coded such that autonomous leaders = -1, paternalistic leaders = 0, and authoritarian leaders = 1. All other variables are standardized.  Figure 7. Predicted standardized ratings of expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of leadership style and task-oriented leadership, controlling for accuracy ratings of the fake news (N=501), shaded areas represent 95% confidence intervals.

Interaction controlling for accuracy ratings
Moreover, to demonstrate the robustness of the effect, both the main effects of leadership styles and the interaction remained strongly significant after controlling for accuracy ratings of fake news (see SM Table 15). Table 15. Coefficients from linear regression model of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of task-oriented leader interacting with leadership styles controlling for accuracy ratings of fake news. Leadership styles were effect coded such that autonomous leaders = -1, paternalistic leaders = 0, and authoritarian leaders = 1. All other variables are standardized.

Interaction controlling for accuracy ratings and other leadership characteristics
Moreover, to demonstrate the robustness of the effect, both the main effects of leadership styles and the interaction remained strongly significant after controlling for fake news accuracy ratings, perceived competence and transformational leadership (see SM Table 16). Table 16. Coefficients from linear regression model of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of task-oriented leader interacting with leadership styles controlling for accuracy ratings of fake news. Leadership styles were effect coded such that autonomous leaders = -1, paternalistic leaders = 0, and authoritarian leaders = 1. All other variables are standardized.

Interaction controlling for demographics and political ideology
Moreover, to demonstrate the robustness of the effect, both the main effects of leadership styles and the interaction remained strongly significant after controlling for demographics and political ideology (see SM Table 17). Table 17. Coefficients from linear regression model of the expectations to agree with misinformation as a function of task-oriented leader interacting with leadership styles controlling for demographics (i.e., age, education of parents, subjective SES, and race), and political ideology. Reference groups are no parental education, and White people for parental education, and race, respectively. Leadership styles were effect coded such that autonomous leaders = -1, paternalistic leaders = 0, and authoritarian leaders = 1. All other variables are standardized.